I have been on this site quite a lot recently and find the info to be invaluable. Plus its a very large forum, shich is always good for quick and informative responses. Basically i bought a new Canon 500D awhile back with the kit 18-55mm lens and have been messing around shooting since. i'd like to think myself as technically minded so understand the concepts of aperture, shutter speed and Iso. What i would like to know is:

When your not setting up a special shot, what mode do you commonly shoot in? For everyday house/street/landscape photos??

Now i know you have to tweek aperture and shutter and stuff, but would you walk the streets of a city with your Canon on Aperture priority since your not shooting fast moving objects? Do you simply stroll around changing apertures depending on each shot? or do you go on fully manual mode and setup every shot you see on the street! I dont want to use the pre-programmed 'scene' modes as they are a bit of a cop out, however they do tend to control all the settings you tend to forget (white balance, exposure comp). i jsut think aperture priority would be the mode of choice for everyday city/landsacape/portrait shots (not sports or fast moving shots)

I use Aperture priority or P-mode if I'm just walking around taking snaps but I'll have shutter priority set to something usable so I'm a click away from that. Manual if I have time to set up the shot and the other modes aren't cutting it. In the studio/on location portrait work is all manual.

I shot an entire series the other day in nothing but the pure auto modes, just to see how it all went. It was an amusing experiment but not something I use regularly.

mostly aperture mode since most all of my shots are outside in the bright sun and shutter speed is high enough to stop action, or indoors where shutter speed isnt of any concern. i only use shutter priority if i need to force higher speeds. have dabbled with manual, but because 95% of my shots are action i'm usually to slow to re-set stuff or forget to. mostly just use +/- ev to compensate.

Good replies guys, so it seems Aperture mode is common for just walking around the city taking quick shots!

So if you want to take something interesting that will only stay in frame for a few seconds wouldnt Manual be an absolute pain...as you will lose the shot by the time you set up your camera....OR do you 'manual' users set a general street setting....e.g. A= f/8 s= 1/10 iso= 200......then tweak the settings from this???

I think i should play around between aperture and priority mode first before venturing to manual. In your oppinion also, would Program mode be easier to operate than Aperture or Shutter priority modes!

I shoot in manual 50% of the time. 25% aperture / 25% shutter. I try to stay manual as much as possible. It forces me to think about what I'm doing. I particularly like shooting with my old film cameras. They are completely manual.

I always shoot manual. I am surprised by the answers. Why wouldn't you want to control your photograph? Why wouldn't everything be manual? The only time my camera is on anything but manual is when I am asking someone else to take a picture, then I put it on program.

I always shoot manual. I am surprised by the answers. Why wouldn't you want to control your photograph? Why wouldn't everything be manual? The only time my camera is on anything but manual is when I am asking someone else to take a picture, then I put it on program.

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What if she see something priceless that you must capture now, like a childs antics or a street performer magic! you dont want to be jumping into your manual settings, changing the settings thus missing the shot!!! I dunno?? im just thought manual was for when you have some time to prep yourt shot!

I always shoot manual. I am surprised by the answers. Why wouldn't you want to control your photograph? Why wouldn't everything be manual? The only time my camera is on anything but manual is when I am asking someone else to take a picture, then I put it on program.

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What if she see something priceless that you must capture now, like a childs antics or a street performer magic! you dont want to be jumping into your manual settings, changing the settings thus missing the shot!!! I dunno?? im just thought manual was for when you have some time to prep yourt shot!

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It takes that much time to shoot manual? Sounds like more practice is in store.